BIG SKY by Kate Atkinson

I am a huge fan of the Jackson Brodie novels, and, although I enjoyed this one, I did not think it was as good as the previous two.  There’s just not enough Brodie and witty banter for my tastes.  Also, Reggie, a character from a previous novel, reappears, but I can’t remember that far back.  Louise, the character that I do remember does not appear until near the end, and her scene is more of a cameo.  Also, Brodie doesn’t get involved in the main crime of this book—sex trafficking—until about 100 pages in.  Still, there are several multi-faceted characters, my favorite of which is Crystal, aka Christine, Holroyd.  Her past is a bit of a mystery in and of itself, but she has obviously catapulted herself from an unpleasant childhood into an affluent life, including a house with a swimming pool in the basement.  The main focus of her life is her young daughter Candy, but she is also a surprisingly good stepmother to Harry, a nerdy teenager who has two offbeat part-time jobs.  One of his jobs is in a rundown carnival-type arcade, and the other is in a theatre that features aging drag queens and bad comedy.   There is so much going on in this novel that it’s hard to nail down the main storyline.  A woman is murdered with a golf club, and I have to say that this event is particularly tangential, and, after the culprit was identified, I was puzzled as to what was the point of her death as far as the book’s plot was concerned.  I think Atkinson may have thrown a few too many ingredients into this pot.